Online Education

Online education programs have gained immense popularity among working professionals and students. These programs offer the benefits of autonomy and flexibility [1]. Learners can plan these programs around their schedule which may include internships, full-time employment, and regular coursework, among others.

Online learning requires a greater amount of self-discipline and motivation than traditional classroom-based learning. The completion of the program within the specified time is an indicator of the perceived usefulness of the program and learners’ endorsement of the benefits that they derive from it [2].

About EnglishBolo™

EnglishBolo^TM is a 100-day program. Learners complete 100 self-paced lessons (Learn Yourself Lessons or LYLs) and 10 sessions that are live, virtual, and teacher-facilitated (Teacher Classes or TCs).

The program is adapted to learners’ proficiency. Before commencing the program, learners take a test (Placement Test) that establishes the proficiency and places them at a certain level of the program (Initial Level). Learners are offered the appropriate program based on the Initial Level at which they are placed.

After completion of the program (100 LYLs and 10 TCs), learners take another test to determine their level (Final Level) at the end of the program (Final Test). 

Completion Rates for Online Courses

Completion rate (the ratio of learners completing the program to the total enrolled learners) is an important metric to gauge program persistence and retention rates among learners.

Studies indicate that Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) appeal to a wide variety of learners for enrolment but only a small proportion completes it. The completion rates vary from 0.7% to 52.1%, averaging at 12.6% [3-5].

Engagement with EnglishBolo™

Engagement rates of a sample of learners who had the opportunity to finish their program from January 1st, 2021 to June 30th, 2021 were examined. The sample for examination was selected such that the learners were representative of different geographic, socio-demographic, academic, and professional backgrounds.

The engagement was classified as:

Learners who had completed fewer than 50 lessons are considered as the least engaged. Those who had completed all 100 lessons are considered as the most engaged. Interestingly, a high correlation was observed between highly engaged users and the Teacher Classes that they have booked.

We observed that 82.7% of the learners completed more than 75% of the program, with 76.6% of the learners completing 100% of the program. This completion rate is significantly higher than the 12.6% median or 52.1% maximum reported for MOOCs.

The high engagement rates with EnglishBolo™ are especially remarkable as they are observed across the diverse cross-section of learners, indicating that the program appeals to a vast set of learners. This sample examined and the EnglishBolo™ program itself comprises learners from varied professional/academic and demographic/geographic backgrounds like:

– Female students at Engineering college in Maharashtra
– Customer Service Representatives of BPOs from Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat
– Retail shop-front employees spread across 21 different states of the country such as Assam, Rajasthan, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra
– Youth and senior school students from low-income backgrounds of 16 different states of the country such as West Bengal, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Kerala, and Madhya Pradesh

Thus, EnglishBolo™ can be considered to be of universal appeal and benefit, evidenced by more than eighty percent of learners willing to complete the program in a low-stakes environment.

Learners’ Experience

During telephonic conversations and in in-bound feedback emails, learners mention that they feel much more confident speaking in English after having engaged with EnglishBolo™. Learners find the Teacher Classes especially helpful in overcoming any hesitation that they would have in speaking in English. They mention that the EnglishBolo™ teachers are very encouraging and supportive.

Presented below are the verbatims of some learners who were part of the sample; the names of the learners have been changed:

I love learning with EnglishBolo and spend a lot of my time on the app. My favorite parts of the program are the live teacher classes and the pronunciation tool. EnglishBolo has also given me the confidence to help my daughter with her English school work!

-Vishal Mishra, Retail shop-front employee from Uttar Pradesh

I have seen a great improvement in my English language skills and have become very confident when I speak. The topics discussed in the teacher classes are useful as I have these discussions in my daily life.

-Vineet Solanki, a BPO employee from Gujarat

English is a language that is used in whole world. The good knowledge of English makes the communication effective. Improving English helps my communication much better.

-Prerna Gupta, a college student from Maharashtra

The Learn Yourself Lessons helped me improve my pronunciation, I learnt meaning of many new words, and it helped me in improving my speaking and reading skills.

-Vishnu Sharma, a BPO employee from Kerala

I loved the EB program. Self-learning modules have helped me improve my reading and comprehension skills. Also, teacher classes are amazing as it has helped communicate accurately and fluently thus resulting in improved communication.

-Kapil Joshi, a youth from Uttarakhand

Conclusion

At 76.6%, EnglishBolo™ garners higher completion rates than the MOOC median of 12.6%. This is especially significant considering the diverse set of learners who join the program, indicating a significant and broad appeal of the program.

Reference

[1] Sarkar, S., 2020, https://adamasuniversity.ac.in/a-brief-history-of-online-education/

[2] Cheung, A., 2021, “Synchronous online teaching, a blessing or a curse? Insights from EFL primary students’ interaction during online English lessons”, System, Vol.100, Jun.2021, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2021.102566

[3] Raharja, A., 2020, https://medium.com/usabilitygeek/increasing-online-course-completion-rate-a-ux-research-case-study-part-1-3708dc114d54

[4] Ahearn, A., 2019, https://www.edsurge.com/news/2019-06-06-moving-from-5-to-85-completion-rates-for-online-courses

[5] Katy, J., “Massive open online course completion rates revisited: Assessment, length and attrition”, International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, http://dx.doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v16i3.2112